Keep an eye on the river when planning your trip
Fishing out of Venice usually depends on what the Mississippi River is doing — and May is no exception.
“You want to make sure the river is on the fall in May, even though it’s high,” Buras guide Capt. Ross Montet said. “If it’s on the rise, it’ll keep the fish pushed out.”
If the river is falling and in good condition, Montet recommended fishing places like Breton Island and the Empire Jetties for speckled trout and redfish.
However, if conditions aren’t perfect, Montet likes to focus on a different location.
“If the (wind) is out the southeast, it pushes a lot of dirty water from Red Pass back in, and it puts dirty water on top of us, so sometimes we have to go up toward Four Bayou and that direction,” he said. “If you’re dealing with a river situation, that would be the area to go (check).”
Once he makes it there, Montet said there is a litany of structure to fish.
“They’ve got some old islands out there,” he said. “I just started fishing out there 10 years ago, so I don’t know what’s what. I didn’t get to see it when it was actually there, but I’ll fish islands, or if there’s a reef I can see sticking out on a lower tide, I’ll fish that.”
Montet also noted the Four Bayou area is littered with camps that also hold fish.
When fishing the structure, Montet sets up clients with popping cork-suspended live shrimp. Additionally, he chunks a ¼-ounce jighead with a Z-Man DieZel MinnowZ.
With the whole Buras area being heavily influenced by the Mississippi River, Montet said it’s important for anglers to distinguish between pure river water and a fresh water surface layer.
“I’ve also fished on our end in Empire where you’ll have silty looking water, but underneath will be pretty clean,” he said. “I’ve done well in it.”
